Procrastinated Update

Reflective:

It’s been about 2 months since I’ve last updated my blog, leaving many of you to probably wonder “When’s he going to update his blog?” or “Did he ever make it to Arkansas? How’s teaching going?”

In response things are going pretty well. I still have days where I’m pulling my hair out but honestly I’ve been taking it one day at a time and am still enjoying my job and my kids. The weather has been cold the past month, I called home and it was warmer there than it was in Arkansas. I whine consistently when it gets below 30 and proclaim that “this is not why I moved to the South!”

Aside from weather, a few exciting things have happened the past couple of months. Most recently I took a trip down to New Orleans for Mardi Gras and stayed with some friends from Whitman. I had a great time, and a special thanks goes out to our hosts Quincy, Catherine, and Mary for their awesome pancakes and even better company. It seems like the city is back on the right track, Mardi Gras got around 2/3 of its usual visitors, so that’s up considerably from last year, but there is still a lot of work to be done in the area. As far as safety, I never felt unsafe at all during the pilgrimage, then again I was traveling with a girl who carries a gun.

I guess I’ve had some self-realizations too these past couple of months. I realized how critical and stubborn I am. Generally I’ve taken this as further proof that I can defend my opinions and my education, but lately I also realize that in the defending of my beliefs I can belittle or estrange people close to me. This is especially manifest in my criticisms of religion and religious people. Also Republicans. To me, I feel the need, even when not asked to express my opinion, to do so and as a result I come across looking more like an ass and less like how I want to be watched. This doesn’t happen in the classroom, but I’ve noticed it in my relationships so I’ve been trying to put a stop to it.

That’s the central dilemma though is how I square what I view as my “opening up” from college (seeing the world in a different light) with what I view to be the ignorance of others. I have no doubt that institutions such as racism and segregation sprang from ignorance and a lack of wanting education. With that in mind, it’s hard for me to just let what I perceive to be ignorance continue: I feel the need to correct it, to educate the person next to me as to why what they believe is not wrong, but could change if they read a book or two. That’s the central problem: in doing that criticism I then force my views on someone else, which is exactly the problem I’ve been having with organized religion in general: Most people believe what they are told to believe. You look throughout history at the monotheistic religions and see that everything comes down to a matter of interpretation and who interprets the Bible, the Koran, the Torah etc. the best. And through that interpretation what was once “of god” becomes “of man” and as all three religions espouse: man is flawed. So by heeding to a flawed interpretation of whichever holy book one subscribes, isn’t one following a false prophet?

Basically I need to learn when to shut up. I’m sure mom’s nodding her head approvingly.

Also new in the “maturing of Nate” chapter in my book, I’m trying to eat healthier. As a result: no more school lunches. They give me way too much. Instead I’m doing my own lunches and have cut the quantities of said lunches significantly. A two sandwich lunch with lots of meat and mayo is now a 1 sandwich lunch with low-fat mayo and carrot-sticks, an apple, and those nifty little “100 calorie” Nabisco packs. I feel like an old man already. I’m also trying to jog more. We’ll see how that goes.

The choirs have definitely been improving. I’ve implemented an agenda and objective for every day in our choir classes to give my kids more focus, and it’s been working rather well. My kids sit up when I ask them to, hold their folders up, and watch me at all times as opposed to last semester when I let them slouch or not follow instructions. It all comes down to persistence on my part and I’m definitely getting a better handle on what I expect. 2^nd period choir (my older kids) is still a challenge, especially the boys who refuse to do anything I ask. On Friday I’d finally had it, and as the boys sat slouched after I’d repeatedly asked them to get in “good choir position” (sitting up, head up, feet flat on the floor, backpacks off, etc.) I started giving out consequences for not following instructions, “Jeremy, you’re not sitting up that’s a warning, Hector, that’s your second warning for not taking off your backpack” etc. It worked. I hated it, but it worked. Once they did it they sang well, along with the girls and we got our work done. I guess I need to be more of a hardass, but not really a hardass, just confident in what I expect and observant enough to realize when I need to use consequences to get what I expect in the face of disrespect. As I’ve said repeatedly: I’m learning.

I also got to meet up with my Grandma’s cousins: Jim and Lorna Galapo. I haven’t had much exposure to Grandma’s side of the family, so it was nice to chat with them and eat all you can eat at the Lakeshore Café (what happened to eating better Nate? Whoops).

That’s all for now. The sun is shining, Jilian’s birthday was yesterday and Anna and Collin turn 21 in a little over a week. In about four weeks my family will be down here visiting and I will get to show them the Delta and the South. I’m excited.

Cheers,

-Nate

“I’ve been waiting here for so long. And all this time has passed me by. It hardly seems to matter now. You stand there with your fixed expression. Just casting doubts on all I have to say.”-Genesis